The manufacture of electrical equipment, such as that employed in electronic data processing, involves myriad electrical wiring connections. To effect the latter, wire wrapping techniques, capable of automatic and semi-automatic implementation, have achieved considerable prominence as an alternative to well known solder methods.
It has been observed that an undesirable pigtail is sometimes formed in the last turn of the wrapped wire connection. The pigtail results from a substantial lateral displacement of the last turn from the surface of the wrapping post. Such a condition often results from premature release of the wrapping bit from the post. In some semiautomatic operations, operator error may be at fault, and in automatic operations, any condition resulting for example, in a reduction of the rotational speed of the wire wrap bit during a fixed wrapping period, may be responsible. In either case, quality control standards dictate that if the last turn extends more than a prescribed distance, such as, that equivalent to one wire diameter, from the post, the wrap connection is to be rejected. The principal reason for the latter is that the protruding wire is susceptible to being caught and pulled during routine handling or servicing of the associated wiring board. If this should occur, the gas-tight wrap could be loosened, thereby compromising the electrical integrity of the connection. In the absence of the present invention, the pigtail defect has been remedied by completely removing the wrap and rewiring the connection. Attempts to grasp the pigtail with a tweezers or long-nose pliers and to urge it toward the post have proved unsatisfactory. Since the formation of pigtails may be repetitive in a particular wiring operation, it is not unusual to find a large number of such defects on a single interconnection medium, such as a backplane wiring board. Accordingly, virtually the entire board must be revised. Rework of this type is tedious, time consuming and costly.
What is desirable is a means of permitting the wrapping operator, and if necessary, the quality control inspector to correct such pigtails without such rework. The present invention provides such a means in the form of a simple, inexpensive and easily used hand tool.